Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Yes, and that was all listed in detail at the time in respect of the Government decision. I hate this building a house analogy because it is intentionally oversimplistic. The Deputy has to remember we are not building houses. We are trying to do something unique and extraordinarily complex that we have never done before, that successive Governments have promised and not delivered, and that we are going to deliver. However, if we are to use the building a house analogy, a hell of a lot happened in terms of construction inflation and the type of house we decided to build. There were also decisions in respect of sprinklers and VAT that I know some people wish to trivialise, and there were many different decisions and elements, all of which have been documented and many of which has been shared with this committee. The PwC report is going to find out, warts and all, if there was a better way. It is going to see if everything was done correctly and I am going to act on the findings of that report and will not be found wanting.

The Deputy asked a very important question about impacts on other projects. There are no two ways about it. Capital budgets are finite. If we are spending more on one project, it obviously eats into the available resources for other projects. The Government is aware of that. It was aware of it on 18 December when we decided as a Government that €50 million would have to come this year from my capital budget in the Department of Health and the HSE and €50 million from across the rest of Government. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is to return to Government with his proposal for dividing that. It is a matter for him. We have been clear and the Taoiseach has been very clear on the record of the Dáil that no project will be cancelled. Will some be delayed? Yes, that is likely. What I am doing is working through the priority projects in my Department and prioritising issues like capacity. I will agree with the HSE on a capital plan for 2019 in the coming weeks.